Around 98% of UAE nationals have negative opinion of Muslim Brotherhood: ECSSR

By: Prof. Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi

Dr. Jamal Sanad Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, ECSSR, said that the ECSSR has prioritised, in his studies and field research, issues that concern the UAE community and are linked to national security, while the centre is keen to confront misleading information or ideas that affect the community.

As part of this framework, the centre has conducted a public opinion survey during the previous period on the opinions of UAE nationals on the Muslim Brotherhood, which included all emirates. He added that the survey consisted of 2084 samples representing all segments of society, in terms of gender, education, income and age, among other factors that boosted its credibility.

Al Suwaidi said that the survey revealed that 97.55 percent of respondents have negative or very negative opinions on the Muslim Brotherhood, and these negative opinions increased along with educational level.

According to Al Suwaidi, the statistics on people who had negative opinions, based on their educational level, are as follows; 96.19 percent for those who completed pre-secondary education, 96.47 percent for those who completed secondary education, 97.52 percent for those with diplomas, 97.92 percent for those with university degrees, and 98,74 percent for those who completed postgraduate studies. He also affirmed that negative opinions were expressed by people in all emirates, who represent the entire community.

He added that even though this outcome was expected, given the nature of the Emirati community, the survey is more sophisticated than simply selecting between extremism and support for the UAE leadership among nationals. However, the centre chose to perform the survey on the basis of scientific research, to correct previous misleading attempts conducted by certain foreign entities.

The negative opinions of the Emirati community towards the Muslim Brotherhood is due to its values of openness, tolerance and moderation while the Muslim Brotherhood calls for extremism and terrorism, which is why the Emirati people is the first Arab society to reject it, Al Suwaidi added.